Electronic Arts wasnt the happiest with the end result
of NASCAR 2001. So EA themselves went out and decided to develop
this game. This time they altered the name of the game by adding
Thunder to the title, so we know that this is a whole
new game. Another new problem is that there is a new NASCAR title
to compete with this one, NASCAR Heat 2002. Will it manage to be
better than last years game and still compete with Heat?
Lets get onto the review and find out.

Graphics

Everything here looks a lot better than in Nascar 2001. The
slowdown you remember from the first game is gone. The long
loading times are still here, but that is EAs trademark.
The cars in the game actually have a more polished look to them.
I dont know how they do it, but they always improve the car
models in every game. The same goes with the tracks in the game.
You can make out all the tread marks and just about anything else
imaginable on the courses. The cars actually take realistic
damage as you race. Things can get so bad that you can be forced
to retire from a race. In single player mode, the game allows up
to 43 cars to race on the same track, which has never been done
before. The number dwindles in multi player modes, but that is
understandable. The pit stops are great, because you can actually
see your pit crew changing the tires, adding gas, and so forth.
But in two player mode you cant see them, and its
probably because the developers wanted to keep the frame rate up.

Sound

EA did a brilliant job making Sweet Home Alabama
the theme song for this game. The song seems to match the image
of NASCAR perfectly. All the sound effects are on the notch with
everything sounding the way you expect it to. The pit chief also
makes his return, whos constantly giving you tips as the
race goes on. And he makes sure to let you know when you need to
pit.

Game play

The controls are similar to last years game. Its
still where the majority of the controls rely on steering. And it
is a bit tricky to master in the beginning, and you will find
yourself going into the barrier and off to the side a lot. But
after a while youll have the controls mastered in no time.
As you race, and if you bump into other cars, your vehicle will
take damage. So much damage that if you dont make it to a
pit in time, you will be forced to retire from the race. Luckily,
theres a handy option to auto repair your car whenever
damage is sustained.

There are now more than 50 NASCAR drivers available to you.
Thats nearly double the amount available to you than last
years game. Dale Earnhardt is no longer in the game due to his
tragic death at Daytona last year, but he is remembered in the
beginning of the game. All the tracks from last years game is now
available in here as well. There are three main ways to play this
game: Quick Race, Season, and Career. Quick Race is pretty self
explanatory, where you pick a car, track, customize the options
to your choosing, and go race. Season mode is where you go
through the Winston Cup circuit and gain points after each race,
whoever has the most points in the end, is the winner. Career is
a new mode, and is very similar to the Franchise mode in Madden,
but this is racing, not football. In here, your goal is to break
the record and win eight championships within twenty seasons,
with your own, created, driver. You start off as a rookie, and
you need to earn sponsors as you race so you can compete on the
better tracks. The more races you win, the better parts you can
buy for your car, and pit crew. As you can see, this will take a
while to complete, but you are rewarded as you play along.

Replay Value

The game has added a lot here to keep you playing. First off,
there is a brand-new create-a-driver. Where you can make your own
car from the ground up, and even customize the paint job. That
brings back so many memories from Top Gear Rally on the N64. The
game is multi player, and can now be played with up to four
players, instead of two like in last years game. As I said
before, the Career mode will keep you playing forever. If you do
manage to get bored playing this game, just set the lap count to
a few hundred, and spend the whole day playing this game.

In Brief

+: Up to 43 Cars on the track at once, No more slow down, More
than 50 drivers

-: Number of cars on the track and amount of detail on the car
decreases in multi player mode, controls can take a while to get
down

The Final Ratings Rundown

Graphics: 9.0
Sound: 9.7
Game play: 9.3
Replay Value: 9.2

Overall: 9.3

Rounded to fit GameFAQs Score: 9

Comments

NASCAR Thunder 2002 is probably the best NASCAR game I have
ever played. Its a lot better than last years game,
and is probably going to end up killing NASCAR Heat 2002 in the
competition. NASCAR fans must own this game, and so should
everyone else. So go make Dale Earnheardt proud and go buy this
game.